Employers damned if they do and if they don't

TV3's failure to provide balance in its reporting of
KiwiSaver employer contributions has prompted the Employers
& Manufacturers Association (Northern), or EMA, to complain
to the Broadcasting Standards Authority.

The complaint
relates specifically to the Campbell Live programme at 7pm
on Monday, April 14, 2008.

The programme presenter
interviewed the Minister of Labour, Trevor Mallard, about
employers allegedly paying their employees' KiwiSaver
contributions out of those employees' pay, which had the
effect of reducing their net pay. Mr Mallard said thousands
of employees were treated this way.

EMA chief executive
Alasdair Thompson says, "Not only was there a lack of
balance, but this kind of reporting deliberately undermines
workplace relations. I say 'deliberately' because the show's
producers talked to me on the phone - and in fact briefly
quoted me on the show in question - so I was able to brief
them in detail about what was behind the Minister's
comments.

"Of the seven employers Mr Mallard said were
acting either illegally or unethically, only one small
employer had actually unilaterally reduced its employees'
cash remuneration by the amount of the employer's 1 per cent
KiwiSaver contribution.

"There are remedies available to
employees if their employers act unilaterally.

"Yet when
the presenter John Campbell (doing his best to be fair to
employers but failing due to his lack of information) asked
Mr Mallard how many employees were affected, Mr Mallard got
away with the answer of 'thousands'.

"With regard to the
matter of employer contributions raised on the TV show, we
believe employers are being condemned for complying with the
recently passed KiwiSaver legislation, while at the same
time receiving 'please explain' letters from IRD if they do
not comply.

"We're damned if we do comply and damned if
we don't.

"The law provides a tax credit for employees as
well as a separate tax credit for employers.

"The law also
allows employers to maintain equity of workplace pay and
benefits between those who join KiwiSaver and those who do
not. The law specifically spells how: by agreeing that
employer contributions be part of an employee's wages and
salary.

"The law is so clear they even named a date of 13
December 2007 from which that can be agreed between employer
and employee.

"We understand that 6 of the 7 employers the
Minister of Labour Trevor Mallard has used as examples, are
using this provision in conjunction with an overall pay
increase.

"Many employers support the concept of
KiwiSaver. Some are paying more than the minimum 1%
employer contribution based on the employer tax credit being
available.

"Comments from the Minister have caused
unnecessary tensions in the workplace and are a knee jerk
reaction to pressure from unions that have been opposed all
along to these particular provisions in the KiwiSaver
law.

"Mr Mallard in his inexperience in this portfolio has
allowed himself to be drawn into a case of wage bargaining.
He is out of order," Mr Thompson says.

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